Finally

By Barbara Gordon - Posted on 23 January 2008

Senator Obama has finally added a section to his website addressing the viral emails circulating about him and his background. Several of us have been asking for this for six months. Why it took so long to respond to the rumors is beyond me. I can only assume that Obama thought it would be better to ignore the rumors altogether rather than dignify them with a response. I think, though, that for conspiracy theorists the reticence only gave the impression that there was something to hide. I'm glad the Senator finally got an official statement out.

Let's talk about background. Look at the Clintons trying to cash out the Presidency, again . . . as they try to move back in no less!

This is getting disgusting. Okay we know that the Clintons say Bill is just like any old spouse campaigning for their mate. And they are right of course, except that he was the President of the United States!

Now we learn that Clinton is raking in another $20 mil from a multi-billionaire friend for admittedly throwing around his Commander-in-Chief influence to benefit some investment fund. Of course Bill won't disclose the details of his investment, just like he and Hillary won't disclose the details of their $500 million dollar "charity" which employed some of their key campaign staffers and to which their campaign contributors have donated tens of millions of dollars. Just like Hillary won't disclose the official records of her experience as First Lady which she says makes her more qualified than the other candidates. How can they stand for transparency when they obfuscate to mask their greed??

I am sick of this. It's disgusting. The Clintons have cashed out the Presidency to the tune of Dick Cheney money. When is America going to call them on this?? This is not leadership. It's greed. Pure and simple. And it's part of a pattern of smarmy questionable gains - see them in Hillary's bio on Wikipedia, including the amazing $100,000 she made in 10 months on a $1,000 investment, the $1 million blind trust when Bill took office in 1993 that the Clintons rapidly turned into a whopping $23 million.

If they were simply investors, I would have no problem with these gains. It's capitalism baby. But that's not what they ran on. That's not what they told us. Surprise - another lie! Their platform was not to lead our Nation to get the big bucks. They did not run to not lead our Democratic Party - where have you been Bill for anyone but yourself over the past 7 years?? It's to the point where even the Democratic Party elders have gone public to tell Bill to grow up.

It's time to end this. It's time to end the Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton cycle. I am a Democrat. A staunch Democrat. But I am for them because I think they are more moral and have better values. If it's Hillary versus McCain I just don't know. I was having doubts before Bill did the pile on Obama and cashed out his Presidency for this additional $20 mil, and now I really don't know . . . This is the kind of stuff that turns my stomach.

Obama is worth just over a million. This Rezko stuff is a tiny droplet in the ocean compared to the massive Clinton greed and scandals. Obama has run a clean campaign. He's been far ahead on POLICY - he was against the Iraq war from the start and he didn't fall for the patently idiotic Bush bill to declare Iran's military to be "terrorists" (Clinton lost my respect when she voted for that one, unbelievably, just last Fall). Clinton is playing catchup to Obama on policy, whether it's her bailout plan or saying we should be more aggressive in going after bin Ladin. Clinton is a bonfire wherever she goes. She will never unify America - she can't even unify her party. She will burn us up. And without unity there can be no real change, only another leg in the Bush-Clinton saga.

<Mr. Clinton's duties and activities as a Yucaipa adviser have never been completely clear to outsiders. He has met at times with people involved in various Yucaipa business deals. And the former president's vast global network of contacts probably has been an asset for Mr. Burkle in dealings with business, labor and political leaders. Over the years, Mr. Burkle has said publicly that Mr. Clinton's prestige and connections have helped Yucaipa get its business proposals in front of top corporate decision makers.>

I'm glad to hear a tried-and-true Democrat questioning the Clintons. It's clear that their underhanded, double-teamed approach is incredibly powerful. They will be able to take down anyone - red or blue - who gets in their way. The only ones who can stop them are US, the voters, if enough of us realize what's going on and say, once and for all, "enough is enough."

That begs a good question: If Bill can go out and raise a ton of money privately, can that in turn be used to put in to the presidential race? What are the limits of personal contributions to your own campaign? I'll admit I don't know.

And just another question, for the sake of asking - what would prevent Bill from becoming Vice President?

Theoretically, nothign prevents it. In fact, constitutionally, nothing would prevent him, were he the VP, from then BECOMING President again were something to happen to Hillary. (Under the 22d Amendment, his two elected terms wouldn't disqualify him from being elevated for the remainder of the term in which a president no longer was able to serve.)

The Vancouver, Washington chapter of the Republican Party posted the unabashed lies circulating about Barack Obama on their home page over the past week. A local blogger saw it, brought it to the attention of the local paper, and the local chapter president denied knowledge of the inaccuracies. See the story at:

I sent the following "letter to the editor" at The Columbian newspaper in Vancouver, WA as a result of their coverage of the story:

In regards to the recent Columbian article False article taken off GOP site, I continue to be frustrated with the dogma, filtering and subjectivity ingrained in our political process and communications.

It's unbelievable that a local-chapter political party leader would not know that the false claims that Barack Obama is non-Christian and unpatriotic are unabashed lies. What kind of leadership is Anna Miller, local Republican Party chairwoman, providing to this group? Anyone even remotely engaged in the presidential run-up and candidate pool would know these are complete lies on their own face.

Sounds like more of building-a-culture-of-fear-and-deception, at the local level, to me. I say this as a registered Republican of Clark County, looking for the best candidate to lead and represent our Country.

I am a registered Republican but now more of an Independent due entirely to Bush and the current Republican administration. I am going to vote for Obama IF he can get nominated. I hope the Democrats realize that, especially if McCain becomes the Republican candidate, Hillary and Bill will NOT be voted for by Independents and Republicans tired of the current administration. They believe it will just be Bill running things again and Hillary is not well liked in mid and western US states while most people do think well of McCain. If Democrats want to win in November they need Obama.

I know this is slightly off topic, but in the same vien of people's voting preferences, but did anyone see Mitt Romney trying to 'mix-it-up' with the black community in Florida? That was definately one of the most pathetic moments in politics that I have ever seen. Not that I haven't had reason to be ashamed of my party as of late, but that really gave me some pause for thought, I'll tell you that much.

Yessir, Mitt, quoting ten-year-old song lyrics from a Bahamas-based one hit wonder. Way to connect with today's African-American youth! For his sake, I have to hope it's still "hip to be square," if you know what I mean.

It was nice to see a Republican TRYING to reach out to the black community instead of automatically writing it off.

That's what I like about Obama. OK, he's a Democrat, but he treats the Republicans as opponents, not enemies. Hillary wants to lead one half of the country in a crusade against the other. Obama wants to lead America.